Shoe welting



W. C. VlZARD SHOE WELTING July 17, 1956 Filed Aug. 11. 11953 INVENTOR.M/A'dm a V/Zdm Fig.1

United States Patent SHOE WELTING William C. Vizard, Brockton, Mass.,assignor to Barbour Welting Company, Brockton, Mass.

Application August 11, 1953, Serial No. 373,520

3 Claims. (Cl. 36-78) This invention relates to shoe welting andparticularly to a platform type of welting having an upstanding platformbead and to a method of welting a shoe.

The invention has for an object to provide a novel platform welt whichmay be incorporated in a Goodyear welt shoe and which is of a novelstructure such that when the welt is properly stitched to the usualinseam lips, as will be described, the bead or platform is caused to hugtightly against the surfaces of the vamp to cause the vamp to be pressedtightly against the margin of the insole, thus preventing spreading ofthe platform away from the vamp when the shoe is flexed during use. Inthis manner gaps or gutters between the platform welt or head and theshoe upper during the wear of the shoe are eliminated, improving theappearance of the shoe and reducing to a minimum the seepage of moistureinto the welt seam.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method ofwelting a shoe having an insole involving the stitching of the novelplatform welt to the usual lips of the insole in a manner such that thestitching tension tends to rock inwardly the platform or bead of thewelt adjacent the vamp and margin of the insole and assists in avoidingthe production of gaps or gutters between the platform or bead and theshoe upper as the shoe is worn.

With these objects in view and such others as may hereinafter appear,the invention consists in the platform Welt hereinafter described andparticularly defined in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings I have illustrated the successive steps in the formationof the present welt as well as the welt itself and the embodiment of thewelt in a shoe wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a grain leather fillet from which thepresent welt is preferably constructed;

Figs. 2 through 5 illustrate in perspective the various cuts and foldingoperations which are preferably used in producing the preferred form ofplatform welt from the fillet shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a perspective of the preferred form of welt embodying theinvention; and

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail illustrating the relative positionsoccupied by the welt, insole and inseam stitches when the shoe is weltedusing the present improved platform welt in accordance with the presentinvention.

In general the invention contemplates a welt of the platform or beadedtype comprising a welt strip having a welt extension 10 along one marginthereof and an inseam flange 12 along the other margin of the strip andhaving a longitudinally extended platform bead 14 upstanding from theupper surface of the welt strip intermediate the welt extension andinseam flange. The juncture between the inseam flange 12 and the inneror inseam surface 15 of the platform or bead forms a stitch receivingline 16 through which the inseam stitches are extended from the usualinseam groove 18 formed in the undersurface of the welt. In accordancewith the present invention the inseam stitch receiving line 16 isdisposed a substantial distance above the upper surface of the weltextension 10, and in practice it is preferred that the line 16 should bedisposed 2,754,600 Patented July 17, 1956 about inch above the uppersurface of the welt extension 10. The height of the bead 14 ispreferably such as toapproximate and preferably be slightly above themarginal portion of the upper surface of the insole 20 of a shoe to bewelted so that when the welt is stitched by the inseam stitchingextending through the welt from the inseam groove 18 and emerging atapproximately the line 16, the tension in the inseam stitches exerts aninwardly rocking action so that the inseam. surface of the bead 15 isdrawn tightly against the portions of the vamp between the upper portionof the inseam face of the bead and the adjacent marginal portion of theinsole 20.

A relatively thick or heavy insole is preferably used in making theshoe, and the insole is preferably applied to a rocker bottom last. Whena lighter insole is employed a leather wedge or split (not shown). maybe inserted between the marginal lip of the insole and the inseam flangeof the welt to raise the top of the curved marginal lip with relation tothe top of the welt head when the parts are assembled. The high insolelip and the slightly higher welt bead on opposite sides of the vamp arepressed tightly toward each other when the thick welt flange is inseamedto the depending lips of the insole.

Referring now to the drawings, I have illustrated in perspective thevarious cuts and folding operations which are preferably performed inproducing a platform or beaded welt embodying the invention and of thestructure ice illustrated in Fig. 6. The welt is preferably formed froma grain leather fillet 30 about 1 inches in width by 319, inch thick.The first operation comprises the cutting of the fillet starting at apoint 32 about of an inch from the left hand marginal edge of the filletand at the flesh surface of the fillet. A cut is made along the line 34to a point 36 spaced about A, of an inch from thev starting point andmeasured in a direction parallel to the upper surface of the fillet.This point 36 is about .040 inch below the grain surface of the fillet,and the cut is continued along the line 35 in a direction parallel tothe grain surface for a distance of about inch terminating at a point38. The usual inseam groove 18 is cut in the undersurface of the filletas illustrated in Fig. 2.

The next step in the operation is to swing into a vertical position theflap formed by the cuts along the lines 34, 35 about a fold line throughthe point 38, and then a strip 40 is cut from the underlying fleshportion of the fillet, as illustrated in Fig. 33, leaving asubstantially rectangular shoulder 42 and an inclined shoulder 43, asillustrated, and forming between a thin flesh folding section 45 and aflat base portion 46. The wedge shaped section indicated at 50 is thenfolded to form the core of the bead or platform, and by folding theportion 50 from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 theshoulder 42 is disposed upon the base 46 with the triangular shaped core50 upstanding and in a position engaging the upstanding flap which haspreviously been swung into position shown in Fig. 3. The remainingportion of the folding section 45 is then folded into the position shownin Fig. 4 conforming to the inclined shoulder 43 and portion of the base46 as shown.

The next step in the operation involves the folding of the upstandingflap, indicated generally at 60 in Fig. 4, down into the positionillustrated in Fig. 5 where the curved shoulder formed at the point 32is brought into contact with the inner edge 61 of the folded section 45of Fig. 4 and forms an open pocket 62. By proportioning the cuts and thefolds, as illustrated in Figs. 2 to 5, it will be apparent that when thecore forming portion 50 and associated portions are then pressed downinto the position shown in Fig. 6, the platform or bead will be causedto assume a concave shape, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. It will beunderstood that all of contacting surfaces will have been properlycoated with the usual cement employed in the welting art so that duringthe forming or molding operation the cover flaps will be firmly unitedto both faces of the core 50 and the remaining folded portions securedto the surfaces against which they are pressed in the molding operation.

By reference to Fig. 7 it will be observed that utilizing the platformor beaded welt of the shape and preferably of the construction thus fardescribed, and with the inseam stitches emerging at substantially thestitch line 16 during the stitching of the welt to he usual lips 70depending from the insole, the top of the platform or bead 14 isdisposed slightly above the marginal edge of the insole, and thestitching tension tends to rock the platform or bead inwardly to therebycause it to firmly clamp the vamp between it and the marginal edge ofthe insole. This disposes the welt extension in a position substantiallybelow the margin of the insole. This method of welting contributes tothe appearance and durability of the shoe and avoids the formation ofgutters and gaps between the welt and the shoe upper when the shoe isworn.

While it is preferred to construct the present welt from a grain leatherfillet, nevertheless it will be understood that the invention in itsbroader aspects contemplates the formation of the present welt frommaterials other than leather, including laminated and extruded, andother plastic structures.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A shoe welting comprising a laterally extending welt extensionportion, an inseam flange portion and an upstanding bead portiondisposed intermediate said extension and inseam flange, the surface ofsaid inseam flange being gradually tapered downwardly from a point in aplane above the surface of said welt extension and below the top of saidbead to its marginal edge, the upper surface of the bead adjacent saidinseam flange from said point being sharply concave, the top portion ofsaid bead being sharply turned toward the marginal edge of said inseamflange, the inseam flange being laminated, and the top surface portionthereof being of a thickness at least equal to the thickness of the weltextension.

2. A shoe welting of the character described in claim 1 wherein theupper surface of said laminated inseam flange is extended beyond themarginal edge of the underlying laminations of said inseam flange.

3. A shoe welting comprising a laterally extending welt extensionportion, an inseam flange portion and an upstanding bead portiondisposed intermediate said extension and inseam flange, said inseamflange being laminated and comprising top, intermediate and bottomportions, the surface of said top portion of the inseam flange beinggradually tapered downwardly from a point in a plane above the surfaceof the welt extension and below the top of said bead to its marginaledge, the upper surface of the bead adjacent said point being sharplyconcave, the top portion of said bead being sharply turned toward themarginal edge of said inseam flange, the intermediate portion of saidinseam flange being integral with the bottom portion thereof and forminga core for the upstanding bead portion, and the top portion of theinseam flange being of a thickness at least equal to the thickness ofthe welt extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,664,891 Lyon Apr. 3, 1928 1,666,444 Fallon Apr. 17, 1928 1,706,624Lyon Mar. 26, 1929 1,809,555 Howard June 9, 1931 1,828,728 Arnold et a1Oct. 27, 1931 1,864,311 Lyon June 21, 1932 1,974,502 Merritt Sept. 25,1934 1,996,844 Vizard Apr. 9, 1935 2,153,321 Vizard Apr. 4, 19392,201,382 Vizard May 21, 1940 2,299,263 Vizard Oct. 20, 1942 2,328,937White Sept. 7, 1943 2,403,750 Quimet July 9, 1946 2,517,347 Quimet Aug.1, 1950 2,593,871 Gemme Apr. 22, 1952 OTHER REFERENCES AmericanShoemaking, page 36, April 21, 1948.

